


bugs, cats, & memories

by employedoutlaw



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, canon machine broke here's something better, fixit fic, gotta do everything around here, i fixed the end of queen wasp so i'll fix the end of oblivio, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-27 00:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18187712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/employedoutlaw/pseuds/employedoutlaw
Summary: Mister Turtle had been pretty clear about it in the 45-odd seconds they'd actually been able to talk to him. The Miraculous Ladybug's power would fix everything back to the way it was before the akuma.So Ladybug throws the teapot into the air and says the magic words.





	1. ladybug and chat noir.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you guys enjoy my attempt at fixing canon because let's be real there's a lot to fix.

She didn't want to. She understood it had to be done, of course, but that didn't make it any easier. And the worst part was that she could see why they’d never told each other their identities. Secret identities were supposed to be _secret,_ after all. It was to keep them and the people they loved safe. She loved Adrien. She loved Chat Noir. If something were to happen because she knew too much about the boy behind the mask, she’d never forgive herself.

She understood this had to be done. But her chest ached. All she wanted was to hold him close, press kisses to his face, and take on the world together. But. Mister Turtle had said it himself. _The Miraculous Ladybugs will repair everything._ As soon as she threw the teapot and said the magic words, it would be like nothing ever happened.

They’d already said a goodbye, of sorts. He’d caught her wrist, and the look in his eyes as he asked if they’d remember broke her heart. He’d seemed so...fragile. She couldn’t lie to him, couldn’t get his hopes up when she wasn’t sure herself what would happen. Or, rather, when she was too sure in a disappointing answer. She wanted to believe that they would be untouched by the magic, their memories of today preserved, dangerous as it may be. But they’d been affected by the akuma, so it made sense to believe that they would be ‘repaired’ as well, alongside everything else.  

So he’d smiled at her sadly, and moved a little closer. Asked carefully for permission, and while she hadn’t been sure what he’d meant at first, the look on his face was all the explanation she needed. She'd nodded, and they had both leaned forward, eyes drifting shut. His lips were so soft, and she'd wanted to live in this moment forever.

But they had broken apart after a few seconds. She had to do this, and there was no use putting off the inevitable. He stood back, and she gazed at him. She wanted to get every detail of his face down to memory now—the curve of his cupid’s bow, the deep green of his eyes, his adorable bunny-tooth smile and soft golden hair. If this was the last time she was going to see him like this, knowing what she does, then...every single millisecond had to count.

She threw the teapot up and up and _up_ into the air.

“ _Miraculous Ladybug!”_

The swarm of ladybugs, glimmering scarlet as they flew around the sky, would probably be one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen if they didn’t signify their imminent loss of memories. Still, she didn't pay attention to them for long. Instead, she simply moved towards him, taking his hand in hers and resting her cheek against his chest.

Count backwards from ten. You won’t get to one. By the time you’re finished, you won’t remember anything. _Dix, neuf, huit, sept, six…_

She felt the _whoosh_ of the ladybugs as they rush past both of them, swirling around their forms in an aerial spiral as they do their jobs, fix what has been changed, and restore everything. It was a warm, comforting feeling, and were she more aware of anything but the soft _thump-thump_ of his heartbeat, she wouldn’t know how to feel about that, given what they were about to do.

But she focused only on him, and the gentle grip of his fingers intertwined with hers. After a moment, she knew instinctively that the ladybugs have disappeared, their job finished. She didn't open her eyes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He didn't want her to. He understood it had to be done, of course, but that didn't make it any easier. And the worst part was that he couldn't see why they’d never told each other their identities. They were supposed to be a _team,_ after all. Wouldn’t knowing help them fight in the long run? He loved Marinette. He loved Ladybug. If something were to happen because he didn’t know that the girl behind the mask was in front of him all along, he’d never forgive himself.

He understood this had to be done. But his chest ached. All he wanted was to hold her close, press kisses to her face, and take on the world together. But. Mister Turtle had said it himself. _The Miraculous Ladybugs will repair everything._ As soon as she threw the teapot and said the magic words, it would be like nothing ever happened.

They’d already said a goodbye, of sorts. He’d caught her wrist, and asked if she thought they’d remember any of this. The look in her eyes had broken his heart—she wanted to hope, he could see it, but there'd been a quiet resignation in her expression. She hadn't believed it, and couldn’t say otherwise, as a last touch of mercy. He'd wanted to cry, or scream, or rage against the rules that had made this so: gave them no choice, wouldn’t leave their precious memories untouched. But they’d been affected by the akuma, so it made sense to believe that they would be ‘repaired’ as well, alongside everything else.  

So he’d smiled at her sadly, and moved a little closer. Asked carefully for permission, and while he hadn’t been sure she’d say yes at first, the look on her face was all the answer he needed. She'd nodded, and they had both leaned forward, eyes drifting shut. Her lips had been so soft, and he'd wanted to live in this moment forever.

But they had broken apart after a few seconds. She had to do this, and _god,_ he wanted to fight against the inevitable. But he merely stood back, gazing at her. He wanted to get every detail of her face down to memory now—the sparkle of her eyes, the shine of her hair, her adorable button nose and soft pink lips. If this was the last time he was going to see her like this, knowing what he does, then...every single millisecond had to count.

She threw the teapot up and up and _up_ into the air.

“ _Miraculous Ladybug!”_

He hardly paid attention to the ladybugs that appeared out of nowhere, flying about and returning everything. They may have been beautiful, but they paled in comparison to his own lady clad in scarlet. He moved closer to her, taking her hand in his and resting his cheek atop her head.

Count backwards from ten. You won’t get to one. By the time you’re finished, you won’t remember anything. _Dix, neuf, huit, sept, six..._

He felt the _whoosh_ of the ladybugs as they rushed past both of them, swirling around their forms in an aerial spiral as they do their jobs, fix what has been changed, and restore everything. It was a warm, comforting feeling, and were he more aware of anything but the soft feeling of her hair warmed by sunlight, he wouldn’t know how to feel about that, given what they were about to do.

But he focused only on her, and the gentle grip of her fingers intertwined with his. After a moment, he knew instinctively that the ladybugs have disappeared, their job finished. He didn't open his eyes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“My Lady?”

“Chaton?”

“...I still remember everything.”

“Me too.”


	2. marinette and adrien ( I ).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which ladybug and chat noir ( as well as marinette dupain-cheng and adrien agreste ) have to deal with the fact that the miraculous ladybugs didn't exactly work the way they thought they were going to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoo, boy—this is a much longer one, lads, but i hope you like it!
> 
> really quick, let’s establish a few things from a timeline / character relations perspective regarding canon divergency: marinette and adrien are both sixteen here. they’ve been ladybug and chat noir for three-ish years by this point, and the catalyst / mayura thing happened about six months ago. rena, cara, and bee are also more active members of miracusquad, ( with rena’s first appearance being about a year ago ), even though they still don’t permanently keep hold of their miraculous. alya and nino still know each other’s identities, and chloé also had better character development b/c i say so. basically everything else is the same relative to canon, but if I change anything else, i’ll be sure to let you all know. i haven’t decided whether or not the rest of the team is actually going to make a big-picture appearance ( and if they do, i’ll edit the tags, of course ) but there’s the rundown for now. i hope you enjoy the chapter !

She didn’t move away from him. Marinette Dupain-Cheng felt the rush of information, old and new, run through her mind. She stared up at Chat Noir— _Adrien Agreste, god,_ Chat Noir was _Adrien_ the _entire time,_ is she a _moron?—_ and he stared back down at her. The green of his eyes was the _same._ Of course, his sclera was also a brilliant emerald, and he didn’t have slit pupils without the mask ( she’d always wondered about that: her own eyes didn’t change; she doesn’t have a ladybug’s compound eyes, and thank goodness for that, but if that strip of black were to be removed, would his eyes still be that of a cat’s? How far did their Miraculous go in changing them? His ears and tail were fake, but those eyes… ), but it was the _same green._

They stared at each other for what feels like hours before he spoke. “...Man, we are such _idiots.”_

The bluntness of his statement caused Ladybug to blink in surprise, but it wasn’t long before a giggle bubbled up on her lips. “Yeah. Yeah, we really are, aren’t we?” God, how stupid could they _be?_ They sat a single row away from each other in class. A flash of memory, like a lightbulb going off, showed her an image of a photoshopped Adrien on Alya’s phone, with Chat Noir’s suit edited on top of him. She’d denied it so quickly it felt like her head was spinning now. How had _Alya_ figured this out before _she_ had? Marinette spent so much time with Chat Noir on a regular basis, and while she’d maybe never gotten the chance to do the same with Adrien, shouldn’t she know him better than anyone?

Before today, she would have never even _considered_ the idea that Adrien and Chat Noir were the same person. Not only did it make _no_ sense, but...wouldn’t that have been too easy? The boy she loved and the partner she cherished, right in front of her the entire time, in both aspects of her life?

_Oh, my GOD, ADRIEN SAW THOSE PICTURES IN MY ROOM. BECAUSE HE WAS THERE. BECAUSE HE’S CHAT NOIR._

He didn’t move away from her, either. Adrien Agreste was _so_ conflicted. On the one hand, he should be jumping for joy. The girl he loved and the girl he admired were one in the same. _Ladybug_ has been sitting behind him in class for almost a _year_ now. But on the other, he was _so_ annoyed with himself. He really hadn’t seen it? He couldn’t see all the amazing qualities that made up Marinette because, what, he was distracted by the _bit of red fabric_ on her face?

Before today, he probably would have rationalized that, when it came to personality, Marinette and Ladybug really weren’t that alike. Sure, Marinette was sweet, and thoughtful, and clever, but the odd way she seemed to trip over her words ( not to mention her feet ) wasn’t like Ladybug at all.

But when comparing previous interactions with her and the Marinette he’d seen today, when neither of them knew who they were but knew they had to think fast. Marinette was quick-thinking and sharp, with a determination and confidence he’d only ever seen in his Lady. It was _her,_ all along. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug, and he’d _missed_ her. His eyes had somehow passed over her, seeing Marinette as nothing more than a friend because his heart was so _set_ on his Lady. His Lady, who was _right there._

God, he _hated_ himself right now.

He heard a sniff come from somewhere below his chin and snapped back into the moment to see _tears_ in Ladybug’s—Marinette’s—well, she had the mask on, let’s stick with Ladybug. Bottom line was there were _tears_ in her eyes and that was enough to make him panic, cup her face as gently, carefully as he could; there were so many things that were weird about _everything_ right then, but he still loved her, and her crying was an absolute no-no, something he had to fix _immediately_ . He had loved Marinette when he hadn’t even know her, and _right now_ , all he wanted to do was make this better.

“Oh, no, Mar—My La— _Ladybug,_ please don’t cry, I’m sorry, don’t be sad.” The words fell off his tongue quick and soft: he was trying his best, but he was so worried. Had he overstepped a boundary? Was she disappointed? He knew she didn’t want to share their identities, but now that they _knew..._

She leaned into his touch, still sniffling. A tear ran down her cheek and shined against the contrast of her mask. Her _chaton..._ the soothing tone of his voice was so sweet, and as he carefully wiped away the tear track, her heart was so full of love. She smiled at him, still watery. “No, you silly cat, I’m not sad. I’m happy. I...I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. Even though we _are_ idiots.”

He blinked, and a relieved laugh broke past his lips. He leaned forward and held her tight, and the feeling of her arms around her was one of the best things he’s ever experienced, _ever._ They were both laughing now, and maybe still crying a little bit, because they’re idiots and they found each other and despite all odds, they were still here and so in love.

It wasn’t until a soft ‘um’ cut through the air that both of them remembered, quite suddenly, that they weren’t alone on the Montparnasse rooftop. The superheroes turned, still tangled in each other’s arms, to see Alya and Nino standing there. There wasn’t really one word that would sufficiently describe their expressions; Nino was slack-jawed, and while one could also see the surprise in Alya’s eyes, there was a mischievous smile on her face; one that looked entirely too self-satisfied, like she’d just been vindicated. Ladybug caught the glint of her phone held tightly in her hand and could feel a headache coming on. _That can’t be good._

Still, she looked back at Chat Noir. He met her gaze, and while they’d always been pretty in-sync with each other ( perks of being two halves of the same whole ), she didn’t think they’d ever read each other so well as they did in that moment.

_Later?_

_Later._

Marinette had Adrien’s number—she could text him after everything calmed down, and they could meet...probably at her house? The mere thought of _Adrien_ being at her house used to be enough to make her at least blush, once upon a time, but now, she didn’t know _what_ she felt. At least she’d taken down the pictures. The ones he _already saw._ Sigh...

They let go of each other and faced their two best friends. In that moment, Marinette remembered: _oh, yeah. Alya and Nino are Rena Rouge and Carapace._ That was...probably something else that’ll have to come up later. Not to mention what Master Fu was going to say about all this. He’d seemed pretty adamant about the Miraculous Ladybugs fixing everything, and his word was part of the reason Marinette had kept quiet for so long to begin with.

Another thought occurred to her. _Tikki_ **_definitely_ ** _knows that Adrien is Chat Noir and has known since Le Hibou Noir. And it stands to reason that Plagg knows, too. They’ve both known since way before today._

This was going to be a _long_ conversation when they finally get somewhere safe.

Still, despite _all_ the thoughts swirling through Ladybug’s head ( and there were a _lot_ ), she stepped forward a bit, assuming the role of ‘responsible superhero who was absolutely not just crying for seemingly no reason in her partner’s arms’. She could do that. No problem.

“Are you two alright?”

There was a very familiar knowing smile on Alya’s face, still, but she nodded, nudging Nino to snap him out of his confusion and shock induced trance. He obliged, but still looked at Alya like he couldn’t believe what he just saw.

_Trust me, Nino, before today, I probably wouldn’t have believed it either._

Alya waved her hand, like the thought of being dual-akumatized with her boyfriend and nearly making all of Paris forget who they are was nothing important right now. “We’re fine. Thank you for saving us, Ladybug, Chat Noir.” It looks like she wanted to say something else, but she remained silent, instead just smiling at them. She glanced over at Nino, who blinked before nodding.

“Uh, yeah! Thanks, dudes. Sorry about—well, y’know, the whole Oblivio thing.”

Chat Noir shrugged, an easy grin on his face. Adrien already knew how to slip on a mask, particularly those a little more literal than the one he was wearing currently. Besides, this was Alya and Nino they’re talking to. He wasn’t very worried about slipping up in front of them. “Don’t be— _Le Papillon_ is the one we should all be upset with.”

It’s funny, as he said that: no one actually seemed upset right now. Alya was still looking like the cat that caught the canary, and while Nino had gotten over his temporary shell-shock, he still didn’t seem to know what to say. Chat Noir glanced over at Ladybug, who nodded in that way that means she was satisfied with the situation. He’d never noticed before, but her nose scrunched up a little when she’s happy, and it was _so_ adorable...

The spotted superheroine turned with a smile of her own and offered her fist to Chat Noir. Just because things were different now ( and would probably never be the same again ) didn’t mean they couldn’t stick to the classics. He beamed back at her, and they bumped their fists together.

“ _Bien joué!”_

A shrill beeping noise redirected both heroes’ attention to their Miraculous, and it was only then that Marinette ( ironically ) remembered another thing: why they were at Montparnasse Tower to begin with. _The school trip!_ Glancing over at Chat Noir, it seemed he’d just remembered as well, and he only had a few minutes maximum on his ring too.

“Well, we’d better get going. We’ll see you around!” Grabbing Chat’s wrist, she ran towards the end of the rooftop, already unhooking her akuma capture from its place on her hip. As they ran, she whispered over to him. “Go find someplace to detransform and meet up back with the class—if we go in the same direction or come back together, it’ll look suspicious. I’ll text you, and we can meet at my house, okay?”

Chat Noir was a little disappointed they couldn’t go off and find somewhere together ( even though he’d already seen it, already _knew_ who the girl under the mask was, having experienced all of _that,_ he wanted nothing more than to see her again ), but he understood. A small part of him had been worried that she might sweep this under the rug—not want to see him, or talk about...all of _this._ But he knew that was stupid. Ladybug was smart. _Marinette_ was smart. And he trusted her with his life.

They jumped from the tower’s edge, swinging ( in Ladybug’s case ) and shooting ( in Chat Noir’s case ) off into different directions, with the hope of finding a place not too far away that would grant them the cover they needed. They had to return to the bus they’d taken, along with the rest of the class, but they’ve got until about Alya and Nino got down from the top of the tower as well, which should be plenty of time.

Ladybug swung over to a nearby subway entrance and grinned—perfect. Maybe a little cliché, but nothing she hadn’t already used before in a pinch. She dove into the entrance and ducked behind a nearby column, where no one else was around, and as soon as the pink sparkles fully enveloped her body, she began walking out.

A little _clink_ sound alerted her to the opening of her coin purse, where Tikki was currently residing. Marinette glanced down at the little kwami, who looked...sad. Resigned. Apprehensive, maybe? She couldn’t pinpoint the emotion ( which seemed to be a running theme, today ), but could already tell it was probably nothing good.

“Marinette…”

“Tikki, do you think we could maybe talk about this later?” Marinette asked, keeping her voice down. “I mean, I’m still trying to process a _lot_ of stuff right now, and there’ll be time for all of us to talk when Chat comes over.” Maybe ‘when _Adrien_ comes over’ would have been a better way to phrase that, but she didn’t even think about it. Not right now.

Tikki merely sighed before nodding and disappearing back into the bag without another word.

Meanwhile, Chat Noir had found a similar solution, if a bit more risky. The city was still relatively deserted—he imagined there’d been an akuma alert ( which, by the way, he had to say: _so_ helpful. Adrien couldn’t tell you when the city had installed alerts and protocols to deal with akuma, but it made his job _so_ much easier, and for that he was appreciative ), meaning that everyone was still inside, for the most part.

Since Miraculous Ladybug had fixed everything— _well,_ he thought wryly, **_almost_ ** _everything—_ cars were no longer overturned or piled up as people forgot how to drive, but they still provided decent enough cover for him to duck behind a few and transform back, taking advantage of the quiet streets.

“ _Finally!_ I thought you two idiots were _never_ going to figure it out!”

His kwami’s voice was a familiar sound ( contrasting most of today ), but right then, all Adrien could do was roll his eyes. _Plagg knew,_ he thought to himself. _He knew that Marinette was Ladybug, and probably has for a while._ He didn’t say that out loud, but the thought was uncomfortably present. Add that to the list of thing they’re gonna have to discuss later.

“ _Please_ not now, Plagg. How about this—if you’re quiet for the rest of the trip, until we get to Marinette’s house, I’ll give you double the Camembert today.”

“Triple.”

“Done.”

Plagg made a satisfied noise, and his head popped back under Adrien’s shirt. The boy stared at the spot for a moment before humming thoughtfully. “Thanks for coming back for us, by the way.” He hadn’t forgotten that little detail. While Adrien hadn’t actually seen Plagg leave, he could hazard a guess as to why, and the fact that he’d actually come back even without his memories...it was a little peek behind the kwami’s not-so-serious, ‘my only love is cheese’ exterior.

Plagg didn’t respond—probably thinking that if he said anything, he’d lose out on his triple Camembert—but Adrien could feel a very small rumbling, right near his heart, and smiled. Plagg didn’t purr very often ( he’d once claimed he was incapable of doing it ), but that little noise was more than enough to convey both his acceptance of the thanks and his gratitude.  

Both of them had picked relatively close spots to the bus they needed to get on, and as Marinette approached, Alya and Nino were nowhere in sight. She and Adrien probably had five minutes tops before they returned and the class returned, but for now, it looked like they were in the clear. The bus doors opened, revealing Mademoiselle Bustier; as she caught sight of Marinette a relieved expression crossed her face.

“Marinette! Oh, thank goodness. I’m so glad you’re alright.”

Marinette grinned sheepishly, twisting the straps of her purse back and forth in her hands. That was one part of the whole superhero thing she could live without—making people worry about her when she disappeared during akuma attacks. “I’m sorry, Mlle. Bustier; when I left to go to the bathroom, I think I got hit by the akuma and forgot everything…” It wasn’t a _total_ lie.

The teacher nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, that seems to be the case for most of us, actually. Adrien still isn’t back yet, and Alya and Nino have been gone for a while, too. But everyone else is here and ready to go when they get back, and thankfully Ladybug and Chat Noir seemed to have fixed everything, so they should know where to go.”

It was hard not to relieve some of her instructor’s worry, but there was no conceivable way that Marinette could say all three of them were fine and on their way without having to explain _how_ she knew that, so she merely nodded and began walking back to her seat on the bus. There were still four empty seats, parallel to each other near the back; she’d sat with Alya on the ride up, while Nino and Adrien had sat opposite them. Almost absentmindedly, she wondered if the seating arrangements were going to change as she sat down before Mademoiselle Bustier’s voice cut through her thoughts.

“Oh—Adrien! Perfect, that only leaves Alya and Nino to get back. Why don’t you take your seat, and we can all wait for them?”

A flash of gold caught her eye as Adrien stepped into the bus, and he spotted her immediately, smiling. It was...strange. If he’d smiled at her like that any other day, she would have instantly started blushing; maybe managed a wave if she was feeling confident enough. But now, all she felt was a fond warmth spreading through her chest as he walked down the bus isle and plopped down next to her without much pomp and circumstance at all.

His eyes were still so green. “Hello.”

She laughed, short and soft. “Hello, yourself.”

This felt...right. It certainly felt better than when her nervousness would run through her entire body, or when her tongue suddenly weighed a thousand kilos just being within a few meters of him. But this was like the perfect combination of feelings she felt around Adrien _and_ Chat Noir—the love in her heart, the fondness in her smile. It felt balanced, like the good things she felt around each boy ( the _same_ boy ) were working in harmony with each other.

Which made sense, now that she thought about it.

Adrien, after a moment of consideration, took Marinette’s hand in his own, super casually. His smile got the slightest bit bigger as she squeezed his hand, and he felt like he’d just been laying in a warm patch of sun. _This is the best day of my entire life, bar none,_ he thought. He felt _stupidly_ happy, like nothing could possibly ruin this.

“Right, so, Nino and I wanted to say...we’re sorry for what happened today.”

Both Marinette and Adrien glanced upward to see Alya and Nino standing at the front of the bus, looking sheepish with Mlle. Bustier right behind them.

Mylène cut right to the chase. “Were you two Oblivio?”

Marinette piped up as well—there was something that had been bothering her. Despite this akuma being two of her close friends, she still had no idea _why_ one of Le Papillon’s little pets had been sent after the pair in the first place, and that had been the case even before she’d gotten hit. “Why did you want to erase everyone’s memory?”

“Well, during the trip, we went and hid to play Super Penguino,” Alya explained, and immediately Marinette knew what was up. Ah. They’d snuck off to make out. She wasn’t entirely sure _when_ “Super Penguino” had become code for “sucking face”, but it was certainly convenient around parents and teachers. Alya continued. “And Mlle. Bustier caught us.”

Marinette and Adrien both winced. Oof—tough break. _It must have been really embarrassing for them to get caught playing a game during a school trip,_ Adrien thought. Sheltered rich boy that he was, he had no idea that “playing Penguino” meant “hardcore smooching”, but he could at least understand on _some_ level why the akuma had come after them.

“And you guys made fun of us for playing that game,” Nino said, “saying it wasn’t our age and all…”

Marinette pulled a face. Why on earth would they have done that? Everyone knew what playing Super Penguino actually meant, not to mention what tended to happened _when_ people got really embarrassed in Paris these days. Sure, maybe they’d tried to conceal the truth of Super Penguino from Mlle. Bustier, but that seemed like the _wrong_ way to go about it.

“We were totally embarrassed at getting caught—”

“And that’s when we got akumatized.”

“Next time, just make sure you play at home and not on school field trips, understood?” Mlle. Bustier asked, to which Alya and Nino nodded.

“Yes, Mlle. Bustier, we’re sorry again,” Alya said.

“Why?”

Everyone’s head turned towards Marinette. She blinked, slightly surprised at the sudden attention, before turning her attention back on Alya and Nino. “You guys shouldn’t have to be sorry to _us._ We all know that it’s not anyone’s _fault_ when they become akumatized, and, I mean, yeah, sneaking off to play a game during a school trip isn’t a great idea, but the people who made fun of you are the ones who should be apologizing. That wasn’t cool.”

Adrien nodded, clearly encouraged. “Yeah—Marinette’s right.”

Rose piped up as well as Alya and Nino walked to their spots. “It’s no biggie. Juleka and I often play Super Penguino together.”

“Everyone loves that game, you know,” Mylène addded.

Sabrina popped up from her seat. “You know, sometimes even Chloé and I—”

“HEY!” Chloé shouted, cutting Sabrina off before she could finish. Marinette blinked. _Sabrina_ and _Chloé_ played Super Penguino together? That was...something she had _not_ been expecting to learn today. Add that to the pile.

“I haven’t played it yet, but it looks fun!” Adrien said, and Marinette raised a brow. _Looks fun???_ Alya and Nino had taken their seats in the aisle opposite them, and while Alya had looked slightly bemused ( and excited ) at this new development, she hadn’t commented.

“All you need is to find the right partner,” she replied instead, and oh, my _God_ , Marinette can finally feel her face start to heat up. Alya glanced over to her, that same coy smile she’d had on top of the tower present on her face. “Right, Marinette~?”

“ _Alright,_ guys, I think we all get the idea, you can stop now!” Marinette said loudly. Alya giggled, and beside her, Adrien looked confused. The bus chatter finally resumed, and the vehicle started moving as they began their return to College Françoise-Dupont.

Apart from the obvious, the ride back was uneventful. Adrien kept his hand in hers the entire time, and apart from one text from Alya ( reading, sic: guuuuuurl what HAPPENED between u and adri while we were all villan-y??? did y’all get to play super penguino too?? ;))). Marinette hadn’t replied with a text of her own, but she had shot a fond-yet-exasperated glare in Alya’s direction, to which the other girl had simply giggled again ), their trip back felt like it had taken five minutes tops, instead of the actual twenty it took to return to their building.

Adrien still didn’t let go of her hand as they all exited the bus, filing out and dispersing into a vague crowd shape in their haste to get to their lockers, get their stuff, and leave. He didn’t want to let go of her hand _ever_ again, as a matter of fact. Was that unrealistic? Probably, but it was the one constant they’d had since _Miraculous Ladybug_ hadn’t worked, and the future...well, it scared him.

He had no idea what was waiting for them, and that was terrifying. He didn’t even like imagining possibilities; too many of them involved some form of heartbreak. Was he selfish for wanting to know Ladybug’s identity? Maybe, and he’d respect her wishes no matter what they ended up deciding, but...knowing what they knew now...couldn’t there be a happy ending for them? Did they _have_ to go back to the way things were, before? Was that even possible?

Marinette’s thoughts were similarly troubled. What were they supposed to do? It wasn’t anyone’s fault that _Miraculous Ladybug_ hadn’t worked completely—or, maybe it had, and Master Fu had just miscalculated? It didn’t make much sense at all; given literally every other time she’d used the cure-all, it had reverted _everything_ back to the way things had been before the akuma. People were certainly not exempt from that. So why now? What did this mean for them?

So numerous and consuming were her thoughts that she hardly realized she’d made it to her locker. Well, _they’d_ made it to her locker. Adrien was still holding her hand, and she glanced down at it, then back up at him, before smiling softly. She opened the locker’s door and grabbed her backpack, swinging it over her free shoulder—she didn’t want to break their hold on each other just to put both backpack straps on. 

Neither of them paid anyone else any mind( though people were definitely starting to notice and gawk in confusion ) as they made their way over to Adrien’s locker, who repeated the process. It was easier for him to sling his messenger bag over his shoulder, and as Marinette watched him situate the strap, she realized that they hadn’t said anything else to each other past their initial “hello”’s.

They left the locker room and made their way to the front of the school. A honk from a silver car alerted both of them, and Adrien looked crestfallen.

“That’s, uh. My ride.”

Marinette was well aware. She also knew what it meant—his bodyguard was ready to drive him home, and he wasn’t exactly the type to take ‘no’ for an answer when it came to doing his job. She nodded. “Yeah.”

They stared at each other for a moment, even now, still holding each other’s hands tightly.

Another honk.

Adrien took a deep breath before letting a smile worthy of Chat Noir to slip on his face. He carefully lifted Marinette’s hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles gently, not breaking eye contact with her. A small pink blush dusted her cheeks, and his smile got the slightest bit wider. “I’ll see you later, princess.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, but the blush didn’t disappear, and there was a smile of her own tugging at her lips. “Yeah, yeah,” she replied—the same tone Ladybug gave Chat Noir when he was trying to be cute at inopportune times. His smile turned into a full-out grin. “Go on, kitty,” Marinette said, taking her hand and pressing it against his chest. “I’ll text you when I get home, and then…” The sentence hung in the air, unfinished, and while they both knew the implications of the rest, it was nice to live in this moment for now.

Adrien took a deep breath and nodded before turning on his heel and hurrying over to the silver car. The sooner he got home, the sooner Marinette would text him, and the sooner he could go over to her house. It was a double-edged sword, now that he was thinking about it, but if it meant he got to see her, he couldn’t wait.

As Marinette watched the car speed off, she exhaled. She didn’t look back towards the school, instead beginning her short walk home. There were certainly benefits to living literally across the street from school, and right now, this felt like one of them—if she had to walk a ridiculous amount, with nothing but her thoughts to occupy her, she’d probably lose it.

The Tom and Sabine Boulangerie-Patisserie was surprisingly empty as she opened the door, though maybe that shouldn’t be very shocking. There _had_ just been an akuma attack, and while Montparnasse Tower was a decent distance from Rue Gottlieb, protocols dictate that everyone, no matter the range, should stay inside during akuma activity. Her parents were nowhere to be found, but as Marinette climbed the stairs, she had no doubt she would see them in the apartment part of the building.

“Marinette!”

 _Yep, thought so._ Almost immediately after opening the door, Marinette was practically accosted by her mother. She returned the hug, of course, but secretly hoped that Sabine Cheng’s special blend of motherly concern wouldn’t take too much time—she needed to text Adrien.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re alright, dear. Your call was so worrying…” Sabine said, and Marinette winced. Oops. She hadn’t meant to worry her mother ( though, in her defense, she _had_ been amnesiac at the time ), but now that she was here, she could properly reassure her that, yes, she was fine, everything was okay now, Ladybug and Chat Noir had saved the day again.

“I’m sorry, Maman, I didn’t mean to freak you out. But I’m fine now, promise.”

Sabine smiled with relief, pulling her daughter in for another hug and placing a kiss on her cheek. “I’m so glad to see that, Marinette. Welcome home—how was your trip? Apart from the obvious akuma part.”

“Ah, well, it was alright. Nothing to really report. Except for the obvious, heh.” There was an entire _iceberg_ of information to report, but Marinette kept quiet, instead just smiling.

“Well, your father was out getting groceries when we got the alert—he should be back soon. Would you like something to snack on, or a drink?”

“Oh, no thanks, I’m just going to go upstairs and start on some homework. We were supposed to write a response for the school trip, and Mlle. Bustier said that was still happening, akuma or not.” Though that wasn’t entirely true, it certainly _could_ have been; that was how normal akuma had gotten around here. Supervillains showing up was  _no excuse_ to slack off on educations, and all that. While Marinette could understand, it would be certainly easier to  _do_ if  _she_ wasn't one of the people who had to run off and  _beat_ said supervillains. 

Sabine nodded. “Alright. Give a shout if you need anything, dear,” she said, returning to the kettle of tea atop the stove. Marinette made a small hum of affirmation before climbing the ladder up to her room, not even pausing after closing the door to climb right back up into bed and fall face first into her pillow.

Really, what she wanted more than anything else was to take a three-day-long nap, but she opened her bag instead, letting Tikki out and grabbing her phone. The kwami didn’t say anything, instead simply taking a seat on Marinette’s pillow alongside her.

Swiping open her phone, Marinette scrolled through her contacts before stopping at Adrien’s. His picture was the one from the _Adrien_ eau de parfum advertisement, and she couldn’t help a snort of laughter. That was _Chat Noir._

While Marinette hadn’t liked to dwell too much about what her partner was like as a civilian before today ( for a number of reasons ), she had to admit that when her thoughts did reach that subject, she _never_ pictured him doing anything like _modeling,_ even when the divide she’d created between Adrien and Chat Noir had been its most defined. He—Chat—just hadn’t seemed like he’d have the temperment to do something like that. She hadn’t had a proper idea of what she thought he _did_ do in his spare time before now, but she’d figured it was cat stuff, ridiculous as that sounded to her now. Lying in patches of sunlight, being a general nuisance to pigeons ( or, maybe not that one. He _was_ allergic, after all. Just like...Adrien...was...Jesus Christ, she was some mix of blind _and_ stupid, wasn’t she? How many blonde boys in Paris had _feather allergies?_ ), things like that.

She pressed a button, chat opening up. There was hardly anything there, of course. Just little occasional things like “hey, you weren’t in class when mlle. bustier announced this, but there’s going to be a test tomorrow”, and his enthusiastic thanks. It had taken her a literal hour to send just _that_ text, and she’d agonized over phrasing and whether or not to include a cute emoji and whether or not that was coming on too strongly for _far_ too long. Not to mention her squee-ing when he'd replied back so quickly and graciously. 

Her fingers tapped gently on the screen’s letters.

[ text—> adrien 💕💖💝💛💚: i’m home. come by the balcony, i’ll let you in through the sunroof ]

Marinette read over the words, a small, thoughtful frown on her face, before she added a smiling emoticon to the end: (^‿^✿)

There. That was much better. Less serious, at any rate, even though this situation was all kinds of it. She pressed the ‘send’ button and set her phone down, returning to her previous position of face-first-in-pillow. She could feel Tikki’s eyes on her, but was _immensely_ relieved when the kwami didn’t say anything. Right now was just...not a good time, no matter what Tikki had intended on trying to say.

Meanwhile, Adrien had gotten home much faster than Marinette had, and since there was no parental unit _he_ had to reassure ( well, apart from Nathalie, but she’d seemed satisfied with their ‘I’m home’ / ‘Welcome back’ interaction ), he’d returned to his room much faster. Without even saying anything, he’d opened three brand new cheese containers for Plagg, who’d dove into one of them ravenously and was now making his way through number two with equal vigor.

Adrien had been pacing back and forth, phone in hand, when the text notification almost made him jump three feet into the air.

[ text from—> marinette! : i’m home. come by the balcony, i’ll let you in through the sunroof (^‿^✿) ]

Oh, my God. That was the _cutest thing he’d ever read._ A huge grin grew across his face, and he replied quicker than he’d _ever_ responded to a text before ( and he liked to think he was pretty good about replying to people in a timely manner ), fingers flying across the screen of his phone.

[ text—> marinette! : i’ll be right over (=^ω^=)✧ ]

He shoved his phone into his pocket and walked over to the window. “C’mon, Plagg, we’re going.”

“What! But I haven’t finished my third tin of Camembert!”

“I’ll bring it with me, and you can finish it over at Marinette’s.”

Plagg grumbled a little, but reluctantly floated out of the now-empty second tin of cheese. Adrien grabbed the third container and put it in his other pocket.

“ _P_ _lagg, transforme-moi!”_

Marinette’s house wasn’t very far from his own, but it would certainly take less time for Chat Noir to get there than Adrien ( not to mention it was _easier_ for the feline ), and she _had_ said to come by the balcony. Within minutes, he’d touched down on the Dupain-Cheng’s roof, and knelt by the glass opening.

Marinette didn’t know how much time had passed since she sent the text, but even as her face was buried in her pillow, she could still hear the knocking sound right above her head. Marinette swiveled to look upward, and Chat Noir was peering down at her from behind the window.

Not for the first time, Marinette was _very_ thankful for her bedroom’s sunroof. She’d always appreciated it before, granted, but it had really come in useful since the Miraculous had appeared on her desk. It was certainly easier than trying to sneak in and out the front door as Ladybug. She opened it carefully, dropping back down onto her bed without much grace. She was way too tired to stick the landing, okay? She did scoot over a little bit so Chat could drop down after her, and while there was a similar air of exhaustion around him—it’d been a long day—she could see the mix of excitement and apprehension in his eyes. This was brand new territory, and neither of them had _any_ idea of where to go from here.

Well. First things first.

She looked at him somewhat expectantly, and he nodded. It was...still hard to read Chat’s expression, but there was a smile on his face, so that must be good, right? Worry and happiness and love and anxieties were all swirling around in her gut, but they were here. In a safe place. Where they were going to have to talk about... _everything._

“ _Detransformation.”_ Green electricity zipped up from his feet to the top of his head, leaving Adrien Agreste where Chat Noir was just sitting. He didn’t really know _what_ he felt right them ( other than love for his Lady—his princess: oh, _man,_ he’d made such a fool of himself in front of _Ladybug_ —but that’s not exactly an unusual thing by now ), but above all else, he just wanted them to be okay.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Tikki and Plagg hovered closeby, also quiet. They didn’t seem to know what to say, either.

Adrien went first, almost hesitantly. “So...what now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -prepares for boos and hisses because CLIFFHANGER- 
> 
> on the one hand, this chapter is like. literally six times as long as the first one, which is pretty rad. on the other, i have no idea if that’s ever gonna happen again. WE’LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE TOGETHER. 
> 
> also holy shit almost 100 kudos in three days???? you guys are seriously amazing oh my gosh. i hope y'all know that every time i get a notification or see someone has commented i get the doofiest smile on my face. i appreciate it so so much!!
> 
> okay: actual chapter note time. i tried really hard to have pov inner thoughts from both of them, but juggling that shit and not getting lost is hard, man. sorry if it ended up being confusing!  
> anyway, like mari said: the kids have a pretty long conversation ahead of them.  
> also, if this wasn’t obvious, i use french canon, which is why you’ll see little smatterings of french words and the villains referred to by their french titles instead of in english. i hope that’s not a major dealbreaker or anything! 
> 
> thank you guys so much for reading—i've already got a vague idea of the next chapter, but i've got no idea how long it will end up being or when it'll get published. thank you for your patience!

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally supposed to be a one-shot drabble thing but NOPE. expect a second chapter soon, babes. 
> 
> i tried to go for a symmetry thing between the two of them ( if that wasn't obvious ) in this first chapter, but rest assured, this is not going to be the entire fic's style ( however long it may turn out being ). i promise i'm not going to make you guys read the same little blurb twice and just switch up the pronouns every single time. 
> 
> i actually really did like this episode, but i wish it had happened in season one when love square identity drama was still kind of cute and hadn't way overstayed its welcome. so i'm putting a stop to it right here, right now. with a fic. it wouldn't be the first time i fixed canon myself.
> 
> i hope you guys enjoyed ! ^^
> 
> edit: made a change from present to past-tense. as i was writing up the second chapter, past-tense seemed to flow a little better, so i figured it was better to have both of them be in past tense instead of randomly switch tenses for seemingly no reason.


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